Joker is not a comedy: Shirish Kunder

By Hindustan Times

Director Shirish Kunder reveals that his forthcoming film Joker is a sci-fi drama, and its story unfolds through a series of clues towards a mysterious place that its lead actor Sonakshi Sinha is led on to. “The story revolves around a place that has been lost from the map of India,” says
Kunder.

However, Kunder is worried that since wife Farah Khan’s last directorial venture Tees Maar Khan (2010) and brother-in-law Sajid Khan’s Housefull franchise were out-and-out comedies, the general presumption among people would be his film too is of the same genre. “As it comes from the same camp as those two films and Akshay is playing the lead, everyone thinks Joker is a comedy, which it’s not. Though this film is sci-fi, it has doses of humour,” says Kunder.

JokerKunder also asserts that he and Farah have radically distinct visions, when it comes to making a film. “Farah is very commercial in her approach, while I am more subtle. I can never do a full-on comedy.”

Joker will also be released in a 3D format. Previously Shah Rukh Khan’s RA.One and Don 2 were also converted into 3D but they couldn’t impress the audience. Prod him on whether he is anxious about how his film would be received in 3D, he replies, “Yes. But both these films were originally shot for 2D and later converted into 3D.

When you shoot with 3D in mind, you do it differently. For example, when you shoot a close up for 2D, you blur the background but when you do it keeping 3D in mind, you shoot it in wide angle so everything behind the object also comes clearly. The usage of lens is different in this style and one can create layers while shooting in 3D,” says Kunder.

About Sonakshi’s character in the film, he says, “She plays the role of a Westerner with Indian origins. She comes from abroad when she hears of this mysterious place, and the story develops from there on,” says Kunder.